Bitcoin, digital currencies to be accepted by Starbucks, Amazon’s Whole Food, other major retailers

Wed, 15 May 2019, 11:59 am UTC

A new retail initiative formed through the partnership of payment start-up Flexa and Winklevoss-owned digital currency firm Gemini could witness major retailers like Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom, Starbucks, and Amazon-owned Whole Foods accept Bitcoin (BTC) and three other digital currencies as payment, as reported by Fortune.

Flexa has announced a limited launch of its network and mobile app that will facilitate instant cryptocurrency payments in stores and online for several retail merchants. Merchants can easily accept cryptocurrencies from consumers who have the new SPEDN mobile wallet app.

SPEDN is Flexa Network’s very first app, which was initially designed only to spend cryptocurrencies. Flexa persuaded the retailers to configure their in-store scanners to recognize transactions done through the app.

Users simply need to hold up the app to the cashier for payment. The merchant will receive the payment in real-time in either crypto or dollars. Other supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), and Gemini Dollar (GUSD.

“The idea of living on crypto is now a reality. You can now do it,” Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss told Fortune. “For the consumer, it amounts to being crypto conscious. It’s like being green.”

Meanwhile, Tyler Spalding, Flexa CEO, told Fortune that this initiative allows merchants to save on the commission fees that they pay to current payment networks. The company also plans to offer developer kits to other companies who are willing to integrate Flexa’s scanner payment technology into their own services or apps.

Flexa Network revealed its plans to introduce more apps later this year, including the Wallet SDK. It is a simple drop-in with just a few lines of code that will allow app developers to integrate Flexa payments.